Violence plunged after he brought the arts to a Tijuana neighborhood
| Tijuana, Mexico
At the top of a hill in Camino Verde, a neighborhood long known for its gang turf wars and struggling families, sits a drab concrete-slab building. 聽
It鈥檚 a substantive structure, which stands out in this community of informally built homes in Tijuana, Mexico. And that鈥檚 the whole idea.
鈥淲e built a bunker, and it changed everything,鈥� says Ra煤l C谩rdenas Osuna, an architect and artist who uses his hands 鈥� and cellphone photos 鈥� as he animatedly describes his work.
Mr. C谩rdenas is the founder and director of Torolab, an art and urban planning collective founded in Tijuana in 1995. He鈥檚 dedicated his life to creating social change through community-driven art initiatives, and his unique outlook played an important role in transforming Camino Verde from a grim environment into a neighborhood of hope and promise.
The 鈥渂unker鈥� houses the Torolab project known as La Granja Transfronteriza, or La Granja (The Farm) for short 鈥� a place brimming with the arts and more that draws community members of all ages.
Between 2007 and 2010, at the height of drug cartel violence, citizens fled abroad or holed up indoors, businesses shuttered, and tourism, crucial to the economy, plummeted to historic lows. As Tijuana garnered a reputation as one of the most violent places in the world, Camino Verde held the inglorious title of the most dangerous neighborhood in the city.
But today, Camino Verde鈥檚 story is changing. And La Granja, founded in 2010, has been no small factor.
On weekday afternoons, the bunker is bustling with young kids screeching out notes on their violins under the guidance of instructors, some from the Orchestra of Baja California. Families gather on the weekend to grow vegetables in the nascent community garden. A basic kitchen techniques course is taught by Tijuana鈥檚 renowned Culinary Art School. There鈥檚 a computer lab upstairs, and parents can pursue their GED certificates after work.
Most strikingly, however, violence in Camino Verde has plunged, falling by 85 percent since 2010, according to Torolab staff, citing state statistics.
鈥淛ust saying that [number] I get a lump in my throat. It gives me chills. This was one of the most violent places in the world, where you weren鈥檛 expected to make it out,鈥� C谩rdenas says. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 common to see governments and arts schools from around the globe coming to the neighborhood to learn.鈥�
C谩rdenas grew up in the Mexican coastal city of Mazatl谩n. Architecture was something he was exposed to early on through his father鈥檚 career, and he moved to the border city of Tijuana to study it in college. The do-it-yourself nature of the city became an inspiration for him.
But he discovered that despite the beauty of architecture and its potential to transform lives, projects involving it were financially out of reach for most people.
鈥淚 realized architecture was a beautiful form of art that doesn鈥檛 matter,鈥� he says. Yet he saw that 鈥渢he art world needed a little more architecture and architecture needed a little more of the art world鈥� 鈥� and together, these fields could have a meaningful effect on communities in need.
Taking on Tijuana's violence
When, in 2010, a group of local leaders came together to talk about what they could do to change Tijuana鈥檚 violent trajectory, C谩rdenas took charge of pinpointing where they could make the biggest difference.
鈥淲hat people want and what people need is to have a livable space,鈥� he says.
C谩rdenas started studying the city. He mapped 911 calls, incidences of violence, imprisonment rates, and nutritional poverty. He found these issues were largely concentrated in one community: Camino Verde.
C谩rdenas sought input from the neighborhood鈥檚 residents on what it needed most. Alma Teresa Carillo was suspicious of him during their first encounter because in the decades she had lived in Camino Verde, it was only people jockeying for votes who knocked on her door.
Still, Ms. Carillo joined a writing class organized by Torolab, where participants shared family recipes and the stories that went with them. 鈥淚 was unemployed and figured I might as well take advantage of what they were offering while they were here,鈥� Carillo says.
鈥淭hen I started to realize something,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e asking what we need. They aren鈥檛 telling us what we need. Something was happening.鈥�
Today, Carillo is one of La Granja鈥檚 biggest advocates, calling on neighbors to get involved. 鈥淭heir work has changed my life. And it鈥檚 changing the community,鈥� she says.
Through C谩rdenas鈥檚 door-to-door surveys and courses like the cookbook project, he learned about other challenges, such as Camino Verde鈥檚 canal. The city built the canal after heavy rains in 1993 resulted in landslides and dozens of deaths, and it cut through the center of the neighborhood, coming to serve as a dividing line for rival gangs.
The group of Tijuana leaders petitioned for government funding, building a soccer pitch and a skate park that covered the canal and did away with the gangs鈥� boundary. The leaders were also able to set up a boys and girls club and community center. And the very last project to get funding was La Granja鈥檚 bunker.
Part of the reason it took a while to get funding is because La Granja is hard to describe. 鈥淧eople would say, 鈥極h, a community center? But we already have one of those,鈥� 鈥� C谩rdenas recalls. To him, it鈥檚 much more than that; it鈥檚 a 鈥渒nowledge farm.鈥� Residents are not only learning new skills through organized opportunities, but they鈥檙e also contributing their own talents for the improvement of the neighborhood.
Film adaptation of Shakespeare
One way La Granja can be seen as a 鈥渒nowledge farm鈥� is through its artist and scientist residencies. The first group of artists to complete a residency 鈥� in February 2014 鈥� was a trio from Austria that wanted to make a film adaptation of Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淭itus Andronicus.鈥�
The play is tough and violent, and the team says it was a little surprised at first by the interest in community participation.
鈥淲e had a stable group of 20 to 30 people,鈥� says Manfred Rainer, one of the artists in residence. Men and women of all ages workshopped the script, decided where and how to shoot, and acted in the film.
The final product won an award for Best Documentary and Hybrid at the Austrian American Short Film Festival in New York this year.
C谩rdenas was key in getting folks interested, says Hannah Oellinger, another member of the trio. 鈥淗e is just a person that if he says to a crowd of people, 鈥楬ey, don鈥檛 you want to shoot a movie?,鈥� suddenly a lot of people want to shoot a movie.鈥�
For many in the community, the overlap between the story line of 鈥淭itus Andronicus鈥� and the day-to-day realities in Camino Verde made the process deeply personal. 鈥淔or some of us, [the script] was an easier way to confront and talk about what we see here daily,鈥� Carillo says.
The artists saw La Granja鈥檚 value. 鈥淚t functions as an example of something positive going on. It shows concretely that possibilities exist: You can improve your situation, even in the worst district of Tijuana,鈥� says Stefan Wirnsperger, the third member of the trio.
La Granja currently runs off government and private grants, as well as artwork sales by Torolab. But C谩rdenas hopes that by early next year, it will be self-sustaining.
Already, the project has received multiple prizes and global recognition, including being selected as the best arts-intervention project with a social impact by Harvard University鈥檚 Cultural Agents Initiative, which found it could be replicated in other neighborhoods across the world.
鈥淚f this works in Camino Verde,鈥� C谩rdenas says, 鈥淚 know we can empower other places, too.鈥�
鈥� Whitney Eulich鈥檚 reporting in Tijuana was supported by the International Women鈥檚 Media Foundation.
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